ITER NEWSLINE-

US ITER awards USD 13.2 million contract to AREVA

These drain tanks, produced by Joseph Oat Corporation in New Jersey, are similar in scale to what will be fabricated for ITER.

The US Domestic Agency (ITER Project Office, USIPO) at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has awarded a USD13.2 million Task Order to AREVA Federal Services for the fabrication of five drain tanks for the ITER tokamak cooling water system.

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, AREVA Federal Services was competitively selected for award of a basic ordering agreement for the design and fabrication of the tokamak cooling water system in 2009. The tanks will be manufactured in Camden, New Jersey, by the Joseph Oat Corporation, a privately held family business founded in 1788.

The drain tanks will be among the first equipment installed inside the ITER Tokamak Building. The tanks must be delivered by January 2014 to the ITER construction site in southern France in order to ensure installation access. Because of the size of the tanks—up to 20 feet in diameter (6 m) and 29 feet high (9 m), with a volume of over 60,000 gallons each (227 K litres)—they can not be installed after the building walls and floors are completed.

The early deadline for delivery of the drain tanks creates an opportunity for US ITER and industry contributors to test procurement, safety, regulatory compliance and fabrication processes used in managing this international project. To date, US ITER has awarded more than USD 260 million in contracts to US industry, laboratories and universities in 38 states and the District of Columbia.